Oceaneering International Plans Move to New 154,000-SF Chesapeake Facility

Good news for the city of Chesapeake. One of the area’s major employers has announced its plans to remain in the area and expand in a new location, creating approximately 70 new jobs in the process and retaining over 460.

Good news for the city of Chesapeake. In 2015, Oceaneering International Inc. will move into a $25 million, 154,000-square-foot office and manufacturing building that will serve as the company’s operating base in Virginia. The move will create about 70 new jobs and retain another 460.

Armada Hoffler Properties Inc. of Virginia Beach will build the project on 18 acres at a new industrial park in the Greenbrier section of Chesapeake. Construction is scheduled to start by the end of the year and be complete in early 2015. Houston-based Oceaneering has signed a 15-year lease on the building.

A major Chesapeake employer, Oceaneering provides engineered services and products, primarily to the offshore oil and gas industry. Oceaneering’s marine services unit has operated in Chesapeake for the last 13 years. It focuses on submarines, deep submergence systems and air cushion landing craft, primarily for the U.S. Navy, its main customer.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Chesapeake Department of Economic Development beat out North Carolina for the project. Gov. Bob McDonnell approved several incentives to retain Oceaneering, including a $750,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund as well as a $750,000 performance-based grant from the Virginia Investment Partnership program.

The Virginian-Pilot reported that the Chesapeake City Council voted on Nov. 19 to authorize $2.2 million in state and city grants to help Oceaneering become the first tenant at the Greenbrier industrial park. In addition to the grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund, the package includes a $650,000 Virginia Department of Transportation Access grant and an $800,000 award from the city.

“Oceaneering is a major employer in Chesapeake, and with this project will create new jobs that exceed the annual prevailing wage in the region, and create new capabilities that support projected customer needs and its current highly skilled workforce. This expansion is a great win for Virginia and Hampton Roads,” McDonnell said in a statement.